2021 Final College Rankings: Oklahoma Sooners Unanimous #1 Followed by FSU, Alabama, JMU and UCLA

After a 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season was a much welcomed start-to-finish campaign that finished with a fantastic playoff season including the Women’s College World Series we’ll long remember!

As we wrap up the 2021 season, our congratulations goes out to the Sooners who finish on top but also to the Dukes of James Madison, who made a huge leap to finish Top 5.

And we say our goodbyes not to just graduated players such as UCLA great Rachel Garcia and Washington’s ever-smiling shortstop Sis Bates, but also to legendary coaches like Arizona’s Mike Candrea and Georgia’s Lu Harris-Champer.

Here are the final college rankings per the two big polls—USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball—which were released on Tuesday (June 15, 2021)…

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National Champs Oklahoma Unanimous No. 1 in Final USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll

Oklahoma, battling out of the elimination bracket, won its fifth national title and is the unanimous No. 1 team in the final 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Ranked first for the final 13 weeks, the Sooners (56-4) were the unanimous top choice for the 10^th time this season.

After posting a 5-0 mark during regionals and super regionals, OU dropped its opener to unseeded James Madison, 4-3 in eight innings. The Sooners would go on to win four straight elimination games against unseeded Georgia (8-0), second-seeded UCLA (10-3) and two versus the Dukes (6-3, 7-1).

The Sooners once again would drop the opener, this time in the Championship Series, against 10^th-seeded Florida State. After falling behind 2-0 in game two, the Sooners rallied for a 6-2 win and then captured the title with a 5-1 victory.

En route to its third national crown in five years, Oklahoma set multiple single-season NCAA records, including team batting average (.405), team slugging percentage (.778), on-base percentage (.490), home runs (161) and runs scored (638), among others. The latter two came in fewer games (60) than the previous record holders Hawai’i (2010 – 158 in 66 games) and Arizona (1995 – 629 in 72 games).

𝐔𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 in the final @NFCAorg poll ☝️ #ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/UxYQi69C85

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) June 15, 2021

National runner-up Florida State came in at No. 2. Like the Sooners, the Seminoles (49-13-1) dropped their WCWS opener and battled out of the elimination bracket to reach their second Championship Series in three years. FSU knocked off the 11^th-seeded Arizona Wildcats, fifth-seeded Oklahoma State and No. 3 overall seed Alabama twice.

National semifinalists Alabama and James Madison clocked in at No. 3 and No. 4. The Tide (52-9) cruised through regionals, posting three shutouts, the final two coming against then-No. 13 Clemson. In a pair of close contests, Alabama swept Southeastern Conference foe Kentucky (4-3, 4-1)  in super regionals. Highlighted by Montana Fouts’ perfect game against UCLA, Alabama won its first two games at the WCWS for the fourth time, before falling to FSU twice.

The Dukes (41-4) made one of the most impressive runs of the season, which culminated as being the first-ever unseeded program to win the first two games (Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) at the WCWS and reach the semifinals. As the No. 3 regional seed, JMU swept through the Knoxville Regional with wins over No. 9 national seed Tennessee and Liberty (twice). They continued by winning games one and three versus No. 8 overall seed Missouri at the Columbia Super Regional.

WCWS participants UCLA, Oklahoma State, Arizona and Georgia come in at No. 5 through No. 8 with Florida and Washington rounding out the top 10. The Wildcats (41-15) and Bulldogs (34-23) posted perfect 5-0 runs heading into the WCWS, both winning their super regionals on the road against No. 6 seed Arkansas and No. 4 seed Florida, respectively.

The Bruins (47-7) and Cowgirls (48-12) swept their respective regionals, but were taken to the limit at home during super regionals. UCLA dropped its opener to unseeded Virginia Tech, but battled back to win games two and three, while Oklahoma State won a tightly-contested series against No. 12 seed Texas. The Cowgirls won the opener, and after falling in game two, rebounded with a 2-0 shutout in the rubber game.

Additionally, No. 18 Clemson, 20 Duke, No. 24 Wichita State and No. 25 Liberty are nationally ranked in the final poll of the season for the first time in program history. For the Tigers (44-8) and Blue Devils (44-12), it comes in their first and third full season of collegiate softball, respectively.

The 2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Records reflect games played June 10. Programs that did not compete in 2021 were not eligible for ranking consideration.

2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I

Top 25 Coaches Poll – June 15 (Final)

New to Poll: No. 8 Georgia

Dropped Out: No. 24 Minnesota

Receiving Votes: Minnesota (37), UCF (28), Fresno State (18), Notre Dame (15), Ole Miss (14), USF (10), Auburn (5), Iowa State (5), Mississippi State (3), Miami (Ohio) (2), Stanford (2), Texas A&M (2).

The 2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Records reflect games played June 10.

*Programs not competing in 2021 were not be eligible for ranking consideration.

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ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

2021 Season – Final – June 10, 2021

Unanimously chosen as No. 1 in the Final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll of the 2021 season is Oklahoma (56-4), who went 6-2 at the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) en route to its fifth National Championship.

Claiming the No. 2 spot is Florida State (49-13-1) who finished runner-up, with Alabama (52-9) rounding out the Top 3.

Jumping 17 spots and concluding the 2021 season at No. 4 is James Madison (41-4) after a 2-2 record at the WCWS, including wins over No. 1 Oklahoma and then-No. 5 Oklahoma State.

Dropping two spots and closing out the Top 5 is UCLA (47-7).

National Champions @OU_Softball claim the No. 1 spot in the Final @espn #USASoftball Top 25 Poll!

2️⃣ @FSU_Softball
3️⃣ @AlabamaSB
4️⃣ @JMUSoftball
5️⃣ @UCLASoftball

View the Top 25 » https://t.co/NYN7Kgkrxg pic.twitter.com/vSMJW7RTCJ

— USA Softball (@USASoftball) June 15, 2021

ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

2021 Season – Final – June 10, 2021

1.	Oklahoma (20) Big 12 Record: 56-4	Previous Rank: 1
		Points: 500
2.	Florida State ACC Record: 49-13-1	Previous Rank: 9
		Points: 480
3.	Alabama SEC Record: 52-9	Previous Rank: 3
		Points: 453
4.	James Madison CAA Record: 41-4	Previous Rank: 21
		Points: 442
5.	UCLA Pac-12 Record: 47-7	Previous Rank: 2
		Points: 420
6.	Oklahoma State Big 12 Record: 48-12	Previous Rank: 5
		Points: 400
7.	Arizona Pac-12 Record: 41-15	Previous Rank: 12
		Points: 381
8.	Georgia SEC Record: 34-23	Previous Rank: RV
		Points: 361
9.	Florida SEC Record: 45-11	Previous Rank: 4
		Points: 323
10.	Washington Pac-12 Record: 45-14	Previous Rank: 7
		Points: 304
11.	Arkansas SEC Record: 43-11	Previous Rank: 6
		Points: 274
12.	Texas Big 12 Record: 43-14	Previous Rank: 13
		Points: 243
13.	Virginia Tech ACC Record: 37-15	Previous Rank: 22
		Points: 233
14.	Missouri SEC Record: 42-17	Previous Rank: 14
		Points: 232
T15.	LSU SEC Record: 35-22	Previous Rank: 15
		Points: 212
T15.	Kentucky SEC Record: 43-16	Previous Rank: 16
		Points: 212
17.	Clemson ACC Record: 44-8	Previous Rank: 10
		Points: 194
18.	Duke ACC Record: 44-12	Previous Rank: 17
		Points: 131
19.	Oregon Pac-12 Record: 40-17	Previous Rank: 11
		Points: 117
20.	Michigan Big Ten Record: 38-8	Previous Rank: 20
		Points: 106
21.	Louisiana Sun Belt Record: 47-12	Previous Rank: 18
		Points: 100
22.	Arizona State Pac-12 Record: 33-16	Previous Rank: 8
		Points: 86
T23.	Wichita State AAC Record:41-13-1	Previous Rank: 23
		Points: 72
T23.	Tennessee SEC Record: 42-15	Previous Rank: 19
		Points: 72
25.	Liberty ASUN Record: 44-15	Previous Rank: 24
		Points: 30

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: Ole Miss
New to Poll: Georgia

Others receiving votes: Ole Miss (24), Notre Dame (20), UCF (19), Fresno State (17), Minnesota (14), Stanford (9), Northwestern (7), Mississippi State (3), South Florida (3), Wisconsin (3), Radford (2).